‘TikTok detective’ arrested after ‘filming police pulling Nicola Bulley’s body out of river’

A self-proclaimed ‘TikTok detective’ who was arrested after allegedly filming police pulling Nicola Bulley’s body from the river has claimed he committed no crime in a YouTube rant.

Curtis Arnold was arrested on suspicion of malicious communication and perversion of the course of justice in connection with the investigation of a missing mother of two.

The 34-year-old hairdresser, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, posted a video on YouTube complaining about his arrest after Lancashire police announced it without naming him.

He said he is out on bail until June and that the conditions of his bail include not sharing any more online content about the case or discussing it publicly and not entering Lancashire.

Arnold captioned the latest video on his ‘Curtis Media’ channel: ‘My arrest by…Lancashire Police proves his point and prohibits me from being in Lancashire and…uploading or speaking about his case.’

Arnold’s arrest relates to footage taken on February 19 from inside a police cordon near the River Wyre in Lancashire and posted online. It was the day the body of Nicola Bulley (pictured), a 45-year-old mother of two, was found by dog ​​walkers and recovered by officers.

He begins by saying, “Even though I’m talking about my case and my arrest over a video, I have to be very careful not to talk about that case.”

Arnold’s arrest relates to footage taken on February 19 from inside a police cordon near the River Wyre in Lancashire and posted online. It was the day the body of Nicola Bulley, a 45-year-old mother of two, was found in the reeds by dog ​​walkers and recovered by officers.

A police spokesman said: “The man was arrested on Wednesday morning with the help of West Mercia Police and has since been released on bail with conditions.” Our priority is, and always has been, supporting Nicola’s family and the wider community of St Michael’s. We hope this arrest provides reassurance that we take the concerns seriously and will act accordingly.”

Arnold alleges in his video that officers were heavy-handed when they arrested him at 1:30 a.m. at his grandparents’ house and then searched the property.

He complains: ‘I still have marks on my hands now from the handcuffs. That’s how tight they get. My nan is now a nervous wreck. She hasn’t been sleeping because of it. There was no need to arrest like that. They could have knocked on the door. They could have even called me on the phone and I would have gone for a voluntary interview, no problem.’

He said a pair of Lancashire Police detectives interviewed him for two hours.

Arnold said: ‘Essentially guys, I didn’t post the video to cause harm or stress. I just posted it on my media channel, as everyone knows.

“I think everyone knows that no crime has been committed here and I think everyone knows why the police did this to me. They’ve basically made it so that he can’t go there and can’t make videos about the case anymore.

‘That’s what the locals wanted and that’s what they got. They have made fit an offensive.

My lawyer said it didn’t fit, but obviously they’ve made it fit and I’m on bail for three months and that’s the way it is.

Lancashire Police were widely criticized for revealing Nicola’s struggles with alcohol and menopause two weeks after the search. The search lasted 23 days before dog walkers found her body less than a mile from where she was last seen.

The disappearance of mortgage adviser Nicola Bulley sparked a great deal of online speculation.

Experts have claimed that TikTok’s algorithms that reward and encourage controversial content fueled waves of interest online.

Content creators flocked to the town where Nicola was last seen on January 27 in an attempt to solve the case.

So many hounds flooded into St Michael’s on Wyre to film videos that, at one point, police had to issue a 48-hour dispersal order to clear the village of outsiders.

During the investigation, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said that social media users had been “playing at being their own private detectives”.

The force called on people not to ‘take the law into their own hands’ and risk ‘fooling’ their investigation.

Amateur detectives were warned not to abuse witnesses or break into empty buildings, as it would distract detectives and risk prosecution.

Lancashire Police were widely criticized for revealing Nicola’s struggles with alcohol and menopause two weeks after the search.

The search lasted 23 days before dog walkers found her body less than a mile from where she was last seen.